The apostle Peter (also called Simon) was a disciple of Jesus. Peter was a fisherman who Jesus called to become a “fisher”of men. But did you know that Peter failed Jesus miserably?In Luke 22:33, Peter promised to follow Jesus no matter what the cost and if necessary he would protect Jesus with his own life. 33 But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” But hours later, Peter found himself warming his hands at the fire of Jesus’s enemies. And moments later, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus to three different people. The very person Peter promised to follow, even if it meant his own death, was now disowned him. Click Here for scripture on Peter’s denial.

Peter knew and believed that Jesus had forgiven him because Peter remembered the prayer Jesus prayed when He said, “ 31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Even though Peter knew he was forgiven, he could not escape the shame of knowing what he had done. This shame must have caused Peter to wonder – Am I still usable? Could Jesus ever trust Peter to bring glory to God after he denied his savior? CAN JESUS MAKE THE UNUSABLE USEABLE?

HAVE YOU EVER felt rejected or misunderstood? Then, you can imagine how Jesus felt at the end of his public ministry. The hostility against him had risen to an all time high. His compassion for the Gentiles and numerous miracles were met with oppression and violence. Jesus knew – that he was about to die. In spite of the fleeting attempts of the crowd to make him King, Jesus chose the way of the cross for sinners. What way have you chosen?

If you knew for sure that you only had one week to live, what would you do with that week?

LET US LOOK TO THE WORD OF GOD FOR WISDOM

John 12:1-19

1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages. ” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” 9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of himmany of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him. Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosann” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: 15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. 17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

WILL THE REAL YOU COME FORWARD?

After reading these verse from the Bible, it should be clearly evident how fickle we are as humans.

Wherever Jesus traveled, a crowd was sure to be seen following behind. The interesting thing a about followers is that there is no difference between the followers in Jesus time and now. The trouble with just being a FOLLOWER is that they continue to follow so long as it does not cost them anything.
The minute they are called to make a sacrifice that will cost them, they end up falling by the wayside. The FAN is really not much different from the follower.

GOD IS GOOD – ALL THE TIME! ALL THE TIME- GOD IS GOOD. I encourage you to say this to yourself at least three times a day. But most of all, say it like you believe it. This is not some sort of mantra that is used in meditation. This is an affirmation – affirming a Biblical truth.

I got a better understanding of this Biblical truth during a conversation with another brother in Christ who was experiencing some marital difficulties. He told me that he wanted to give up. That’s when it came to me. What do people do when they come to a wall? Most of us would try to climb over it; when that fails we attempt to break through it; if that fails we might try to dig underneath it or try to walk around it. These were the answers I was given when I asked several Christian friends what they would do if faced with a trial or challenge that was like a brick wall.

OVERCOMING AN OBSTACLE

The funny thing was when asked what would you do if you faced a trial in your life that was like a brick wall, not a single one of my friends said, ” I WOULD ASK GOD FOR HELP.” Are you getting it? We love to go it alone, although most of us hate to admit it to ourselves. We would rather go it alone and say look what I did all by myself instead of asking for God’s help or ,for that matter, the help of another Christian. Instead we’d rather give up and go back to what we were doing before we hit the wall. Butwhen we do this, we just add another brick to the wall making it even more difficult to over come. And believe me, there will be another time you’ll face that same wall.